In my co-pending parent application, incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed and claimed an improved stationary impact saddle for belt-type material conveying systems. The impact saddle described is intended as a direct replacement for conventional impact idler rollers. T-shaped parallel supports extend in transverse relation to the direction of belt movement, and are curved to form an upwardly-facing concavity or curvature which approximates the required troughing angle of the upper run of the conveyor belt. A series of individual low-friction polymeric blocks or segments, positioned in adjacent relation on the supports and transversely of the belt, form upper surfaces which engage and support the lower surface of the belt in the impact zone.
Since the impact saddles of my parent application replace the conventional impact idler, a series of such saddles are usually positioned in side-by-side relation in the impact zone. When the individual blocks or segments are worn, they are replaceable on the saddle supports, by sliding along the T-shaped support members, without having to remove the support members or the frame.
My parent application assumes an impact zone which is spaced somewhat from the tail section of the conveyor belt, in other words, at a location where the troughing angle is already established. There exists, however, conveyor belt installations in which the belt loading, and therefor the impact, takes place in the transition section between the flat or straight tail pulley and the conventional troughing idlers.
Conveyor belt systems use a transition section at the tail piece to form the desired troughing angle in the upper run, since it is not practical to go directly from the flat tail pulley to a troughing idler. Such transition sections commonly use conventional three roll idlers to form up the belt in the transition section, in which the two outside rolls are set at increasing angles, from essentially flat or low angle condition at the tail pulley, to the desired belt troughing angle at end of the transition section. This is ordinarily accomplished by five to seven idlers, spaced about twelve to eighteen inches apart. Where the impact is on the tail piece, impact-type transition roller idlers are commonly used, that is, idlers in which the support rolls are made from an impact absorbing material. A typical example consists of the types HG and HS of Continental Conveyor & Equipment Company, Inc., of Windfield, Ala. 35594. However, roll-type idlers tend to make only line contact with the belt with the result that large areas of the belt are unsupported and subject to damage from falling material.
Using impact saddles of the general type as shown and described in my co-pending application, I have provided a solution to the problem of low-friction impact support at the transition section of a bulk material conveyor belt.